Canon S1 IS... disappointed in resolution? Help!

I bought an A300 Canon, and was really surprised at the resolution. I got
it for a "pocket camera". I also have the bigger A40. Both take great
photos for me. I am extremely pleased with the detail of the photos.

But I discovered the Canon S1 IS existed...an "almost an slr" camera
(viewfinder). I have a lot of film Nikon gear, but cannot afford the new
digital Nikon camera SLR bodies and system.

The A300 was only a few days old, so I returned it and got the Canon S1 IS.
A lot of fine features on the S1 IS. And another reason I got it was for
it's 35mm-380 optical zoom (35m equivilent). My main nature shooting with
my Nikons is 70-300mm.

I am disappointed the S1 IS has no real macro setting. I suppose I can
adjust to it with customized features.

But the SHOCKER with the S1 IS is that the picture resolution seems to be
far inferior to the A40 or A300!
All the features in the world are useless without sharp photos. When I load
the pictures into my computer, my photo editor software can sharpen up the
photos quite a bit..almost to a tolerable level.

Has anyone else noticed this??? I sometimes enlarge my photos to 8X10 on my
HP 7660 printer. I am disappointed in the results.

I have been using the S1 in "auto" mode. In P mode there seems to be a
customize feature for "sharpness". I will try that.

Any comments or help would be appreciated. I got the camera for $400 in
Circuit City (they took back the A300 without restocking fee). But if I
returned the S1 I would get the 15% restocking unless I upgraded again. I
do want to stay with Canon and CF cards.

Help!

Fred

"Fred B." wrote in message ...
I bought an A300 Canon, and was really surprised at the resolution. I got
it for a "pocket camera". I also have the bigger A40. Both take great
photos for me. I am extremely pleased with the detail of the photos.

But I discovered the Canon S1 IS existed...an "almost an slr" camera
(viewfinder). I have a lot of film Nikon gear, but cannot afford the new
digital Nikon camera SLR bodies and system.

The A300 was only a few days old, so I returned it and got the Canon S1 IS.
A lot of fine features on the S1 IS. And another reason I got it was for
it's 35mm-380 optical zoom (35m equivilent). My main nature shooting with
my Nikons is 70-300mm.

I am disappointed the S1 IS has no real macro setting. I suppose I can
adjust to it with customized features.

But the SHOCKER with the S1 IS is that the picture resolution seems to be
far inferior to the A40 or A300!
All the features in the world are useless without sharp photos. When I load
the pictures into my computer, my photo editor software can sharpen up the
photos quite a bit..almost to a tolerable level.

Has anyone else noticed this??? I sometimes enlarge my photos to 8X10 on my
HP 7660 printer. I am disappointed in the results.

I have been using the S1 in "auto" mode. In P mode there seems to be a
customize feature for "sharpness". I will try that.

Any comments or help would be appreciated. I got the camera for $400 in
Circuit City (they took back the A300 without restocking fee). But if I
returned the S1 I would get the 15% restocking unless I upgraded again. I
do want to stay with Canon and CF cards.

Help!

Have you checked for something obvious, like not having
the camera set to full resolution and fine mode? It's fairly
easy to change the fine mode setting without even realizing it.

Rick

"Fred B." wrote in message ...
I bought an A300 Canon, and was really surprised at the resolution. I got
it for a "pocket camera". I also have the bigger A40. Both take great
photos for me. I am extremely pleased with the detail of the photos.

But I discovered the Canon S1 IS existed...an "almost an slr" camera
(viewfinder). I have a lot of film Nikon gear, but cannot afford the new
digital Nikon camera SLR bodies and system.

The A300 was only a few days old, so I returned it and got the Canon S1 IS.
A lot of fine features on the S1 IS. And another reason I got it was for
it's 35mm-380 optical zoom (35m equivilent). My main nature shooting with
my Nikons is 70-300mm.

I am disappointed the S1 IS has no real macro setting. I suppose I can
adjust to it with customized features.

But the SHOCKER with the S1 IS is that the picture resolution seems to be
far inferior to the A40 or A300!
All the features in the world are useless without sharp photos. When I load
the pictures into my computer, my photo editor software can sharpen up the
photos quite a bit..almost to a tolerable level.

Has anyone else noticed this??? I sometimes enlarge my photos to 8X10 on my
HP 7660 printer. I am disappointed in the results.

I have been using the S1 in "auto" mode. In P mode there seems to be a
customize feature for "sharpness". I will try that.

Any comments or help would be appreciated. I got the camera for $400 in
Circuit City (they took back the A300 without restocking fee). But if I
returned the S1 I would get the 15% restocking unless I upgraded again. I
do want to stay with Canon and CF cards.

Help!

Have you checked for something obvious, like not having
the camera set to full resolution and fine mode? It's fairly
easy to change the fine mode setting without even realizing it.

Rick

Any comments or help would be appreciated. I got the camera for $400 in
Circuit City (they took back the A300 without restocking fee). But if I
returned the S1 I would get the 15% restocking unless I upgraded again. I
do want to stay with Canon and CF cards.

Help!

Fred


If you're unhappy with it then return it even if this means paying a %15
restocking fee. I never understood why Canon packed so many features into a 3mp
camera.

Any comments or help would be appreciated. I got the camera for $400 in
Circuit City (they took back the A300 without restocking fee). But if I
returned the S1 I would get the 15% restocking unless I upgraded again. I
do want to stay with Canon and CF cards.

Help!

Fred


If you're unhappy with it then return it even if this means paying a %15
restocking fee. I never understood why Canon packed so many features into a 3mp
camera.

Maybe bring yours to CC and directly compare its results to the floor
model's. It shouldn't be too tough to talk a sales clerk into hooking
them each up to a floor model PC to examine & compare the images.

If there's a problem with your specific copy of that model, it'd show
up. If it's just that you're not compatible with that camera, for
whatever reason, then return it.

Fred B. wrote:
I bought an A300 Canon, and was really surprised at the resolution. I got
it for a "pocket camera".

.... and that's great to hear, since I recently bought an A300 & I'm
awaiting its arrival.

Maybe bring yours to CC and directly compare its results to the floor
model's. It shouldn't be too tough to talk a sales clerk into hooking
them each up to a floor model PC to examine & compare the images.

If there's a problem with your specific copy of that model, it'd show
up. If it's just that you're not compatible with that camera, for
whatever reason, then return it.

Fred B. wrote:
I bought an A300 Canon, and was really surprised at the resolution. I got
it for a "pocket camera".

.... and that's great to hear, since I recently bought an A300 & I'm
awaiting its arrival.

Fred B. wrote:

But the SHOCKER with the S1 IS is that the picture resolution seems
to be far inferior to the A40 or A300!
All the features in the world are useless without sharp photos. When
I load the pictures into my computer, my photo editor software can
sharpen up the photos quite a bit..almost to a tolerable level.

It could be due to the big lens range. 10x optical zooms have always had a
tendency of producing softer images. It just isn't possible to make a tack
sharp 10x zoom, no matter what category you place it into.

Even the extremely expensive Canon 28-300 IS L lens isn't tack sharp, and
frankly noone expects it to be - it's simply a matter of deciding will you
bother with exchanging sharp lenses, or go with all-in-one solution.

--
------------------------------
online photo portfolio
www.stojcic.com

" If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph
the event, what film would you use?" - Anonymous

Fred B. wrote:

But the SHOCKER with the S1 IS is that the picture resolution seems
to be far inferior to the A40 or A300!
All the features in the world are useless without sharp photos. When
I load the pictures into my computer, my photo editor software can
sharpen up the photos quite a bit..almost to a tolerable level.

It could be due to the big lens range. 10x optical zooms have always had a
tendency of producing softer images. It just isn't possible to make a tack
sharp 10x zoom, no matter what category you place it into.

Even the extremely expensive Canon 28-300 IS L lens isn't tack sharp, and
frankly noone expects it to be - it's simply a matter of deciding will you
bother with exchanging sharp lenses, or go with all-in-one solution.

--
------------------------------
online photo portfolio
www.stojcic.com

" If you saw a man drowning and you could either save him or photograph
the event, what film would you use?" - Anonymous

Yeah, resolution and compression set ok. Higher quality than the A300 or
A40 was.

I put the S1 into "P" mode (not Auto). Put it on high sharpness and it
seems ok in that setting.

In Auto mode I have to increase sharpness in photo editor.

I hate to bring it back.

I think I will take some AA batteries and a CF card to the store and try
their camera, and bring the CF card back to my house and look at them. If
the floor model does same thing, I got some thinking too do.

"Rick" wrote in message
...
"Fred B." wrote in message
...
I bought an A300 Canon, and was really surprised at the resolution. I
got
it for a "pocket camera". I also have the bigger A40. Both take great
photos for me. I am extremely pleased with the detail of the photos.

But I discovered the Canon S1 IS existed...an "almost an slr" camera
(viewfinder). I have a lot of film Nikon gear, but cannot afford the
new
digital Nikon camera SLR bodies and system.

The A300 was only a few days old, so I returned it and got the Canon S1
IS.
A lot of fine features on the S1 IS. And another reason I got it was
for
it's 35mm-380 optical zoom (35m equivilent). My main nature shooting
with
my Nikons is 70-300mm.

I am disappointed the S1 IS has no real macro setting. I suppose I can
adjust to it with customized features.

But the SHOCKER with the S1 IS is that the picture resolution seems to
be
far inferior to the A40 or A300!
All the features in the world are useless without sharp photos. When I
load
the pictures into my computer, my photo editor software can sharpen up
the
photos quite a bit..almost to a tolerable level.

Has anyone else noticed this??? I sometimes enlarge my photos to 8X10
on my
HP 7660 printer. I am disappointed in the results.

I have been using the S1 in "auto" mode. In P mode there seems to be a
customize feature for "sharpness". I will try that.

Any comments or help would be appreciated. I got the camera for $400 in
Circuit City (they took back the A300 without restocking fee). But if I
returned the S1 I would get the 15% restocking unless I upgraded again.
I
do want to stay with Canon and CF cards.

Help!

Have you checked for something obvious, like not having
the camera set to full resolution and fine mode? It's fairly
easy to change the fine mode setting without even realizing it.

Rick